Plant-Based Entrepreneur Niehla Ollie: From Beauty Industry to Homegirl’s Hummus

Niehla O.: 00:01:03

Gotta get up, get up to the whole world, you a winner, winner vision of a star with a mission in the cause what you doing, how you doing, what you're doing and who you are? Flex yourself and press yourself Check yourself, don't wreck yourself if you know me then you know that I be knowing what's up.

Stephanie Graham is noseyAF.

Stephanie Graham: 00:01:22

WLPNLP Chicago 105.5 FM radio. It's lumpin Radio. Oh, my gosh, you guys, it's Saturday. Welcome to two o'. Clock.

It is Stephanie, your friend and host, and I am so excited for today's special guest. I have to tell you all something. I hope you brought your appetite to today's show because, guys, we are joined by Niehla Ollie, aka Niehla O..

And Niehla has spent over 20 years in the fashion and beauty industry before pivoting to a career that nourishes from the inside out.

her Los Angeles community in: 2016

Niehla O.: 00:02:12

Thank you.

Stephanie Graham: 00:02:12

Homegirls hummus full time in: 2021

So today, Niehla's on a mission to spread love connection hummus one scoop at a time. NiehlaAli, welcome to Nosy af. Oh, my God.

Niehla O.: 00:02:31

Hi. First of all, let me say this. Yeah, it is very moody and sexy in here.

Stephanie Graham: 00:02:36

Thank you.

Niehla O.: 00:02:37

You got your radio voice on, girl. You were doing your thing. I love seeing my friends walk in their greatness.

Stephanie Graham: 00:02:42

Oh, thank you, honey.

Niehla O.: 00:02:43

You're so great. I can't wait.

Stephanie Graham: 00:02:45

Okay, shout out to Bonnie deshawn.

Niehla O.: 00:02:46

Okay. Hey, sis, how you doing?

Stephanie Graham: 00:02:50

Niehla.

Niehla O.: 00:02:51

Yes.

Stephanie Graham: 00:02:52

How did you find your love for food and cooking in the first place? Cause I love a takeout, Let me just tell you.

Niehla O.: 00:02:59

I mean, I like a takeout as well, but I'm so particular with the way I like my food to be given to me. And so when it's not, I bring.

Stephanie Graham: 00:03:09

Michael a little closer to you.

Niehla O.: 00:03:10

So, okay, Michael, you come here. Hello. Hey, fella. Is that better?

Stephanie Graham: 00:03:14

Yes. Great. Hey, Kai.

Niehla O.: 00:03:16

So I like my food a certain way and I know what I like for it to taste like. And so, you know, I worked in the fashion beauty industry for some years. I have an artistic background.

on't know. Back in, like, the: 2000

So when I had time, I would play around with stuff. Just put. Putting stuff in the pot, cooking it up, like using a recipe as a basin and making it my own.

And so once I knew that I had this love of creating things on top of the stove, I knew what I wanted my food to taste like. So, like, when I was eating McDonald's, if I get a filet o fish, somebody turned me on to having a filet o fish with barbecue sauce on it.

It's the only way that I want it now. It's the only way I would eat a filet o fish. And if it doesn't have the barbecue sauce on it, then I don't even want it. What are we doing?

So question. Yeah.

Stephanie Graham: 00:04:10

When driving, how do you eat your filet? Official barbecue sauce? Are they giving you the cup? And then are you, like. How are you driving, putting that on your fish? Are they doing it anymore?

Niehla O.: 00:04:17

First of all, what you do is you pull over into the parking lot.

Stephanie Graham: 00:04:20

Okay. Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:04:21

And you eat your meal because you don't want to eat it cold. Because the worst thing that you can have is cold McDonald's.

Stephanie Graham: 00:04:26

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:04:27

And so then there's that life hack.

Stephanie Graham: 00:04:30

Hello.

Niehla O.: 00:04:31

So, yeah, I mean, there's that.

Stephanie Graham: 00:04:33

Okay. And you were saying.

Niehla O.: 00:04:35

And so, yeah, I just like things a certain way. I know what tastes good to me.

Stephanie Graham: 00:04:39

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:04:40

And so I like to be in control of that. You know, one of those people who like to control things.

Stephanie Graham: 00:04:45

In my research, uh, oh, I learned that your love of hummus came from a night in Milwaukee. Tell us more. Cause I gotta tell you, one time I was in Milwaukee, and for some reason, I felt led to do the Electric Slide.

Niehla O.: 00:04:58

Oh, did you do it?

Stephanie Graham: 00:04:59

I did. And a woman thought she should film me. And I'm like. I put my hand up. I said, no.

Niehla O.: 00:05:04

No cameras, please.

Stephanie Graham: 00:05:05

Period. No cameras, please.

Niehla O.: 00:05:07

Did people join in? Did other people join in?

Stephanie Graham: 00:05:08

Yes, other people were doing it with me. Like, maybe there was three of us.

Niehla O.: 00:05:11

Okay.

Stephanie Graham: 00:05:12

But, lady, don't film me. Ma', am, this is not TikTok. This is not TikTok.

Niehla O.: 00:05:16

So no tik. And I'm not talking.

Stephanie Graham: 00:05:17

She's like, I was just trying to take. And I was like, I don't know you. And she stopped. She stopped. But take me back or take us back to that night in Milwaukee.

What was it about hummus that lit the spark for you?

Niehla O.: 00:05:29

Okay, Come on, y'. All. Come on back. Okay, so actually, I had a late Night craving in Chicago. But it was from. It was craving a hummus that I had in Milwaukee.

Stephanie Graham: 00:05:43

Oh, okay.

Niehla O.: 00:05:44

So see your source. You got to go and check them because they gave you wrong information.

Stephanie Graham: 00:05:49

I see.

Niehla O.: 00:05:49

And that's what I don't like.

Stephanie Graham: 00:05:51

Trust me.

Niehla O.: 00:05:52

So we gonna check em.

Stephanie Graham: 00:05:53

Yes.

Niehla O.: 00:05:53

Right after this. We going over there? No. I had some hummus in Milwaukee. It was really tasty. I had it a few times. I was craving it.

And one night I was home in Chicago, and, you know, the drive is about two hours, so I wasn't going back to Milwaukee anytime soon to get this hummus. But I figured I like to cook. I'm a smart girl. I can figure this out. My dad's a good cook. My mom's a good cook. I can figure this out.

So then I went to the grocery store, and I knew the hummus was green. And that's about the gist of it. I didn't even know what flavor it was. And so I just started looking up basic hummus recipes.

And then I bought all these things to make it green. And by the time I got through experimenting and adding stuff and subtracting stuff, I had made this hummus that was really delicious.

And my dad, I had him to try it because my dad was a guy. He was a foodie too. But my dad was like Captain Carnivore. He was about the meats. He's from Mississippi.

Any animal that you can name, he probably has eaten it.

Stephanie Graham: 00:06:46

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:06:46

And so he tasted it, and he said, oh, you really onto something, girl. This is good. And I said, well, if dad liked it, then I know that I'm doing something right. Yeah. And so I said, this was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed this. I. One day, I'm gonna start a company called Homegirls Hummus. Cause I'm everybody's best friend. And that's, you know, that's the beginning of it.

Stephanie Graham: 00:07:06

Okay. I love that. Yeah. I don't think I ever knew that.

Niehla O.: 00:07:10

Well, here you go. And don't listen to your sources.

Stephanie Graham: 00:07:13

No.

Niehla O.: 00:07:13

Just don't ask my neighbor. Talk to me. Okay. Okay.

Stephanie Graham: 00:07:18

Well, so, like, when, though, at what point, since it was just fun, were you like, okay, you're like, I'm gonna make this a business. Was it all just in that one fell swoop, like, okay, my dad liked it. I'm gonna start a business.

Niehla O.: 00:07:30

I said to myself one day, I'm gonna start this business. I knew what I was gonna call it. And then I started joking around with this hashtag hummersfortheholidays.

That was like this thing that I'd love to say.

And so, like a couple months later then I was in LA looking for apartments with one of my really good friends because I knew that I was planning on moving there. And so once I actually moved to LA and got settled and I was there like maybe two years in, I said, okay. I was still working in the beauty industry.

I knew my time was winding down. I knew that I wanted to pivot and do something different.

Like, I knew I only had a certain amount of time left in that, so I was like, I need to start looking for my next thing. And I knew that was gonna be Homegirls hummus.

ed to make this a business in: 2016

Stephanie Graham: 00:08:29

I gotta tell you, as an artist, anytime we have like open crits, somebody is always quick to have a hummus.

Niehla O.: 00:08:35

They will.

Stephanie Graham: 00:08:36

What is it about hummus that it's just such an easy go to snack to just quickly grab on your way to an open crit or open house or a potluck.

Niehla O.: 00:08:45

I think that hummus really makes people feel, feel very cultured.

Stephanie Graham: 00:08:49

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:08:51

It's not the run of the mill, like, oh, I'm gonna bring some guac. Oh, I'm gonna bring some queso dip.

Like, the good thing about hummus is that most people can have it because it's, of course, it's vegan unless you put some meat on it, you know?

Stephanie Graham: 00:09:06

Do people do that, put meat on hummus?

Niehla O.: 00:09:08

I mean, there's so many different things that you can do with hummus to make it fabulous.

Stephanie Graham: 00:09:11

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:09:12

You know, hummus toppers are all the rage.

Stephanie Graham: 00:09:14

Hummus toppers.

Niehla O.: 00:09:16

Taking hummus and making it creative by doing something. I do a lot of delightful things with hummus, so.

Stephanie Graham: 00:09:22

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:09:23

But you know, it's one of those things that it makes everybody. Most people love it. And even if they don't like it, they'll act like they like it because everybody else is eating it.

And they don't want to seem like they're barbaric. You know, they're like, oh, I'm cultured too. I'm going to have this delicious dip.

Stephanie Graham: 00:09:37

So, you know, I love the idea of thinking that hummus equals cultured. Mm. You know what else people say to make themselves feel cultured?

Niehla O.: 00:09:45

Tell me.

Stephanie Graham: 00:09:46

I think light bites. Hey, guys, stop by for some light bites. I don't like that. I don't like that. It's not.

And then the light bites are like mozzarella sticks, like cut in half.

Niehla O.: 00:09:56

It's like, it's very light. Cause you can't even have a whole one.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:01

Give me this whole tray.

Niehla O.: 00:10:03

Something like that.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:04

Yeah. I don't.

Niehla O.: 00:10:05

I think that people are. They try to fall under the Jesse Jackson act, that whole rhyming thing.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:11

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:10:11

They think that if they rhyme that it's a good time.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:13

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:10:14

You know what I'm saying? And I'm just like. Cause I like to rhyme, you know? And so every once in a while I get it. But everybody calm down. Light bite don't make it right. Okay.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:23

You like to rhyme. Do you have bars?

Niehla O.: 00:10:26

I have bars in one of my cars.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:29

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:10:29

But I keep it in the trunk. Okay. Cause it's not any junk.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:32

Right? Right.

Niehla O.: 00:10:33

Wow.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:35

Wow.

Niehla O.: 00:10:35

Cha cha cha.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:38

That's amazing.

Niehla O.: 00:10:39

You know, I try to do a little something for the homies.

Stephanie Graham: 00:10:42

So how do you like being a business owner?

Niehla O.: 00:10:46

I love it. I love having autonomy of my time, of my resources, all those things. I mean, it has a lot of really, really great attributes.

At the same time, it's not for the faint of heart. So, like, although people look at and like, oh, must be nice. Like, it's also you working seven days a week.

am and going to bed at about: 12:30

It's so it's also like sometimes 21 hour days, you know, and it's also pushing past, pushing through and doing things you don't necessarily want to do. It's also no sick days, it's no pto.

You know, it's also, how many years are you working without getting a regular paycheck because you can't afford to pay yourself because you're building a business.

So all of those things, there's, you know, highs and lows to everything, but you have to think about what's the most valuable to you and then work around that. Because, you know, although I don't have pto, although I don't have a company paying for my medical, of course, all those other things.

And I don't have a 15th or a 30th.

I do have the opportunity to say, I think I'm gonna go to Wyoming on the third and I'm gonna look up a cheap ticket on my favorite airline and I'm gonna get a ticket to go to Wyoming. What am I gonna do in Wyoming? I don't know. Yeah, but I'm going. Cause I want To.

Stephanie Graham: 00:12:07

Yeah. Cause you do hear folks say, like, I wanna be my own boss because of this time freedom.

That seems like a thing that a lot of people want is time freedom.

But then you do talk to folks that have their own business, and it doesn't necessarily seem that it's just that simple, I guess, to say it's not at all. Would you recommend it? Are you enjoying yourself?

Niehla O.: 00:12:33

I love. It depends on what you. You have to do something that you love, something that you would do if.

Even if you weren't getting paid for it, you know, something that you believe in. For me, I'm not a BSer, so if I'm pushing a product, it's because I believe in the product.

Stephanie Graham: 00:12:52

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:12:52

I have to believe in a product. Otherwise, I'm not. I'm not a salesperson. I'm just a people person. I like a good conversation with people.

I like to recommend things that I really like. I like to talk to people about the options and things like that. So I really like people, and I like to enrich people's lives.

And I feel like I've created a lane for myself where I'm able to do just that. I'm able to make friends anywhere. I'm able to be a daymaker and bring joy.

I'm also able to enrich people's lives with information about healthier food options and flavor profiles and different ways to use it and things like that. And so it's really. It's really great. It's really great. I enjoy it.

Stephanie Graham: 00:13:33

Excuse me. As you have moved into healthy foods, as you mentioned, like, hummus is vegan, and you just mentioned healthy foods.

What, like, in: 2025

Niehla O.: 00:13:52

I think it's really about the choice. I mean, I think a lot of people talk about what they don't like.

I think a lot of people, like, I just had a conversation with a friend earlier today about Thanksgiving. I'm going out of town for Thanksgiving, so I'm gonna be with my friend.

Stephanie Graham: 00:14:05

And what's your flight number?

Niehla O.: 00:14:07

So it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

Stephanie Graham: 00:14:12

Oh.

Niehla O.: 00:14:13

And so she was like, now? I said, well, what, you know, what can I. You know, what would you like for me to make? She was like, what do you want to make?

She was like, are you gonna be making some of that vegan stuff? I said, first of all, don't do me like that.

Stephanie Graham: 00:14:24

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:14:24

I said, I make good food. If it's vegan or not. That doesn't matter. It's gonna be delicious.

You're not gonna even know that it's, you know, you wouldn't even think that it's vegan. That's not gonna be the first thing that enters your mind. I don't lead with, hey, try some of this vegan hummus. Well, hummus is vegan.

Try this vegan apple. Try this vegan banana. Like, who cares? Does it taste good or nah? Do you want it or not?

So if you enjoy a really good salad, you don't have to put cheese on your salad, but there are vegan cheese options or plant based cheese options. You can be vegan, you can be vegetarian, you can be a carnivore. It's up to you and what you decide for your life.

But you can always find something that will meet your flavor profile no matter what you do. It's all a choice. You know, some, some places to eat are harder than others if you decide to dine out a lot.

And there are a lot of places that don't take people who don't eat meat into consideration. I have really fallen into the more of a pescatarian lifestyle.

Stephanie Graham: 00:15:23

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:15:24

Because if I do dine out, like you go to breakfast with people, if you don't eat meat, what can you have? You can have toast, you can have oatmeal, you can have grits, you can have potatoes. So you gonna have a carb filled breakfast?

Stephanie Graham: 00:15:38

No, that's not.

Niehla O.: 00:15:39

Or you know what I'm saying? You can say, okay, well you know what, I'm gonna go ahead and eat an egg, you know what I'm saying? Or whatever the case may be.

Because then like people like to ask about protein. Because now we're seeing how important, how important air quote protein is. They're putting it in everything. You know, they got vegan popcorn out.

Now they have vegan chips, they have vegan beverages, they have vegan ramen noodles. They have. One of my favorite comedians was just talking about it on his Instagram page. It's like all these proteins.

I'm sorry, and I meant to say protein instead of vegan. So protein popcorn, protein ramen.

Stephanie Graham: 00:16:15

Okay, I was.

Niehla O.: 00:16:16

Protein, vegan popcorn, beverages. I mean, well, if you put butter in it and you know, whatever, then it's no longer vegan if it's dairy.

Stephanie Graham: 00:16:23

Yeah, I didn't think about that.

Niehla O.: 00:16:24

But I usually, I pop my popcorn stovetop with olive oil. I do all the things.

Stephanie Graham: 00:16:28

What's the movie theater popcorn? Is that vegan?

Niehla O.: 00:16:30

Cause that butter is like, it's not butter. And I hate movie theater popcorn.

Stephanie Graham: 00:16:34

So it's not vegan.

Niehla O.: 00:16:35

I don't know what is in that mixture of oiliness.

Stephanie Graham: 00:16:38

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:16:38

I can't really say. But what I can say is that, you know, you find what you like and you can veganize most things or at least make it vegetarian.

You know, there's a lot of options. But then we have to think about the things that you're adding. Are they worse than the things that you're replacing? So that's a consideration too.

It really just depends on what your.

Stephanie Graham: 00:16:59

Priorities are with the holidays coming up for folks.

Because I have seen that, I've been, you know, at graduation parties or weddings and seen people planning menus and I'm like, oh, what if somebody's like vegetarian or vegan? They're like, oh, well, we have salad here.

Niehla O.: 00:17:13

And it's like, well, that's really rude.

Stephanie Graham: 00:17:15

I think it's very rude too.

Niehla O.: 00:17:16

And typically when they have salad, they'll have like buttermilk salad dressing. So then it's like, so then this person can't have anything.

Stephanie Graham: 00:17:23

My thought, my question is, as people are planning for the holidays, can you give us some sample things that we can have that folks that in the event that they have a vegan, vegetarian, plant based guest show up.

What's, you know, three things that we could have on the table that would make them feel like, wow, they really considered me, give me a budget of like 25 to $50.

Niehla O.: 00:17:54

Okay, so you can do your vegetable dishes and make them plant forward or plant friendly by not using regular butter. You can use olive oil, you can use avocado oil, things like that.

I make vegan collard greens that are amazing and you would think that they have meat in them, but they don't. I use mushrooms instead of meat, you know, and I season it because with most things you have to season it.

You can take your sweet potatoes and do sweet potato spears, like cut them into like wedges and you know, season them and toss them in olive oil and put them in the oven as opposed to doing the candy sweets with all the butter and all of the brown sugar and all the sugar and all those other things. You can still add those, some of those elements.

It doesn't have to have the butter, but you, or you can make really nice like sauce, like a soy ginger glaze or something and put those in the oven. I've had those at one of the grocery stores. Makes sweet potato wedges and they're really good. You can also do like a dressing.

You can do like a dressing. I don't like stuffing. Most people of my hue don't really do stuffing.

Stephanie Graham: 00:19:03

I don't like Thanksgiving food, honestly.

Niehla O.: 00:19:05

Oh, my God. Well, dressing is my jam.

Stephanie Graham: 00:19:08

Oh, not me.

Niehla O.: 00:19:08

And I'm still gonna have it, you know, for Thanksgiving. So then I will make sure that my dressing is. It tastes like dressing, but it's gonna be plant forward. Okay.

And I make a really good plant forward cornbread dressing that you wouldn't even know was plant forward or vegan.

Stephanie Graham: 00:19:24

So it sounds like it's really thinking about butter.

Niehla O.: 00:19:29

It's thinking about butter. It's also thinking about meat. A lot of people culturally, depending on, you know, the culture, will put meat in everything.

Like, I once went to a family barbecue for my brother in law's family, and there was meat in everything. And I was just like, what can I have? And of course they had buttermilk ranch salad dressing.

So I really ate a piece of bread and I was like, well, I'm about to go. I'll see y' all later. They didn't even have, you know, fish because I'm, you know, like I said, I. I'm more of a pescatarian now.

And they didn't even have fish, so there was nothing I could have.

And so I will say to you, when hosting people at your house, really consider the fact that a lot of people may not have the same diet that you have, or people may have dietary restrictions. So be considerate enough to have people and don't be dismissive about it. Just be like, okay, you know, I'm gonna.

Even if you gotta cater out, even if you said, well, I don't know how to cook that, Even though you can go online and learn how to cook, everything else, you a Pinterest superstar. But all of a sudden, when it comes to making food that doesn't have meat or dairy in it, you don't know what to do. I mean, replace things.

It's not that hard. But I think that people. There's some kind of mental block because people do what they want to do, right?

Stephanie Graham: 00:20:43

So, yeah, you know, going back to homegirls hummus. One of the things that I think is cool that you do is you're always at, like, farmer's markets.

Niehla O.: 00:20:51

Yes.

Stephanie Graham: 00:20:52

Tell me, like, your experience at your first farmer's market.

Niehla O.: 00:20:57

Mm. I absolutely love farmer's market culture. It really is about making friends.

It's really about having good conversation, sampling your product, and then just putting it in a bag. Because here's One of the tips I would give to anybody who is thinking about doing farmer's market. If you have a food product, have samples.

If your product's good, it's going to sell. So it's really about being engaging. It's really about building relationships. It's really about. For me, it's about being a day maker. I've worked.

I worked in retail for quite some time. I've had some really, really great training in terms of my retail life and how to be a great, you know, great at customer service.

I really enjoy customer service. It's the nature of who I am because I have more of a servant's heart. And so I'm here, like, how can I help you? How can I make your day better? What.

How can I help you to utilize whatever this product is that you have? And maybe you don't know how to use it. I got you. Let me. Let me help you out, because that's kind of my posture.

So you have to be a person who likes people, number one. And you have to want to engage with people.

And if you have social anxiety or you don't want to talk to people, or you don't like people, then that's not for you.

Stephanie Graham: 00:22:14

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:22:14

Hire people to work for you.

Stephanie Graham: 00:22:16

Wow. Yeah. Because as you were talking, I was thinking, I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, what if you don't want to be around people?

Niehla O.: 00:22:21

Or then you be a person who pays people to. Pays to hire people who do want to be around people.

Stephanie Graham: 00:22:28

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:22:28

Like, I don't understand people who work in the customer service industry and they're like, well, I don't like customers. I don't like people. Well, it's in. It's in the job title. So customer service, you have to service the customers, right?

Stephanie Graham: 00:22:40

Why are you getting attitude with me?

Niehla O.: 00:22:42

Why are you like, don't. Just don't do it. That's not for you.

Stephanie Graham: 00:22:45

That's tough. It's a tough life out there.

Niehla O.: 00:22:48

I mean, it really. It's about choices.

Stephanie Graham: 00:22:51

Yeah, it is. But sometimes we have no choice.

Niehla O.: 00:22:55

Hmm. Interesting. Yeah.

I mean, you could either say you go, you get a job at McDonald's, do you want to assemble the max, or do you want a ring on a register? Yeah, it's really simple. Do you want to put the filet o fish in the convection I oven? Do you wanna be on fries?

Or do you wanna be the person who calls the number to give the people their order? And it just always seems like the people who are calling the number and who are at the Register, they don't wanna be there. Switch places.

Stephanie Graham: 00:23:25

Maybe it's bad management. Maybe the manager put them up there and they're like, I'd rather actually be back on the sandwich line. I don't know why you have me up here.

Niehla O.: 00:23:32

Or maybe they're up there because they're trying to steal out of the register. But they don't really like customer service.

Stephanie Graham: 00:23:39

They better not be.

Niehla O.: 00:23:40

I mean, people do it. I've heard some stories.

Stephanie Graham: 00:23:44

You have?

Niehla O.: 00:23:44

I have. But anyway.

Stephanie Graham: 00:23:45

Yeah, exactly. You know, I. Yeah, that's. That's tough. That's tough.

Niehla O.: 00:23:51

I mean, shrinkage is a real thing and it has. It has a name because people shrink stuff, so.

Stephanie Graham: 00:23:55

They certainly do.

Niehla O.: 00:23:56

Yeah.

Stephanie Graham: 00:23:58

When, like, what's been your most, like, homegirl, we made it, Homegirl hummus made it moment so far, you think?

Niehla O.: 00:24:09

One of my moments was when I was contacted by one of our local news stations to be on the air to come up, you know, show people a recipe using my product. It was just such a beautiful situation and beautiful thing.

I was so grateful and proud that all of the work that we were doing to give people a better snacking option had been, you know, recognized. When the mayor came by our booth a few years ago at a farmer's market we were doing up north, he looked at the map.

The market manager told me he looked at the map, he saw the names of the companies. He said, this company right here with a name like Homegirl Thomas, I need to go meet her. I need to see who this is. So that was awesome.

And I got to chat with him for a little while. So that was great. Another moment was when we were recognized by the city treasurer's office as a Chicago star.

We got the Chicago Star Award, and that was awesome.

Stephanie Graham: 00:25:00

Oh, cool. Did they give you, like a real award of a star?

Niehla O.: 00:25:04

There was a piece of paper that had a star on it.

Stephanie Graham: 00:25:07

I'm happy that's there.

Niehla O.: 00:25:08

Hey, there we go. Like, I'm grateful for all things great and small.

Stephanie Graham: 00:25:11

Yeah. Cause what if it had, like, an octopus on there and it was called.

Niehla O.: 00:25:14

The Star of Women? Then I would have said, hey, guys, can you put a star, a tattoo on the octopus? I don't know.

Stephanie Graham: 00:25:19

Yeah. That's exciting. Congratulations.

Niehla O.: 00:25:21

this year. Yeah, beginning of: 2025

Stephanie Graham: 00:25:33

Do you like. Do you have that, like, on your products? Like, we have the Star Award.

Niehla O.: 00:25:39

You know, I probably should put that somewhere. Like, we are an award winning hummus brand. Yeah, I should. I just actually thought about that this morning.

You know, I think that when you are busy doing the work, you don't always look up to smell the flowers and say, oh, let me breathe and take in this recognition. Or let me, you know, breathe and take in this, you know, whatever has happened, this award or whatever. Because you're busy doing the work.

Stephanie Graham: 00:26:08

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:26:09

And so sometimes you have to stop and like, you know, say, okay, this is great. How do I let other people know that these people found me important? Because unfortunately, we live in a culture of people who have herd mentality.

So wherever the crowd goes, that's where people are gonna go.

They need the culture to tell them that this is good so they can do it too, you know, and so when people see, oh, you're a recognized, blah, blah, blah, blah, it's like, yeah, and if I wasn't. The product is still the product and it's still good.

But I'm glad that it's important to you that I was recognized by these people that you don't really know. Sure, exactly. So, hey, and no judgment. I get it.

Like, you know, people want to know that other people find you important so that they can deem you important. Unfortunately, that's how the world works. And so you gotta roll with it.

Stephanie Graham: 00:26:56

That's what I hate with like Instagram and stuff. Folks are like, oh my gosh, they have all these followers, so they must be worthy of following. Or they could have bought followers.

Yes, they most certainly could have.

Niehla O.: 00:27:05

And a lot of them do. And God bless.

Stephanie Graham: 00:27:07

That's wild. I should start a follower purchase business. Like, I wonder how that even works.

Niehla O.: 00:27:12

Should.

Stephanie Graham: 00:27:12

But that really wouldn't be a business of integrity.

Niehla O.: 00:27:15

So then you could open up 10,000 Instagram accounts and then follow those people from each of your accounts.

Stephanie Graham: 00:27:19

And how much could I charge?

Niehla O.: 00:27:20

I don't know, but that seems like how would you even enjoy your money? That seems like a whole lot of work.

Stephanie Graham: 00:27:25

Yeah, it doesn't seem like it would be a values based business, that's for sure. No, unless my value is get that bread, you know, get that bread, get that bread. What rhymes with bread?

Niehla O.: 00:27:36

I don't know. I was just thinking of words and I was like, let me be quiet right now. Get that bread. Talk to Fred.

Stephanie Graham: 00:27:44

I think I was gonna ask. We have three minutes until our break. But I was gonna see you have. So you tell me if this can be answered in this. But I was curious.

All your hummus flavors have such fun names. And I was wondering how you thought of the Names.

Niehla O.: 00:27:58

I have a background in marketing. It's what I have a degree in. And so working in different spaces with my degree, I never really got to have the fun of working in marketing.

But when I've always launched my own business ventures, naming things was always important to me because titles, Yeah, I love it. That's how you draw people in. It makes them curious. They're like, oh my God, what's that?

Stephanie Graham: 00:28:22

And so they sound just like that as well.

Niehla O.: 00:28:25

Yeah. My green hummus, which was the, you know, the flagship flavor is called Prosperity. It's a spinach jalapeno hummus and it's called Prosperity.

And people usually really like the name. And so sometimes when I'm selling it, I'm like guaranteed at $200 in unexpected income coming at the end of this week.

You know, I'll say stuff like that. And they're like, oh, I'll get that one. You know, it's just a fun thing to say. But also, let me speak that over your life, honey.

Cause I don't know, you might be, you might need $200 and I want you to have it. And you never know when a check is in the mail.

Stephanie Graham: 00:28:55

Yeah. Really? You never do know.

Niehla O.: 00:28:57

That's correct. You don't know.

Stephanie Graham: 00:28:58

Okay, that's fun. So do you just come up with that off the top of your head or like, do you write that down?

Like, do you spend time like writing these, like fun and things?

Niehla O.: 00:29:07

Absolutely not. Whatever God gives me, that's what I'm putting it down.

I'm one of those people who, I'm pretty good with language, pretty good with words, pretty witty or clever. And not to blow my own horn, but you have to know your strengths.

And so, you know, just like when you talk to your friends, you're like, girl, you talk to motorcycle today. You know, it's like, I don't know what it is about black women, but we love naming things and we're really good at it.

And then when you say that, the person will know exactly what you're talking about. And so it's a superpower, and that's one of my superpowers. I like to give titles or name.

Stephanie Graham: 00:29:38

Things, you know, how do you like manage, like what's your self care plan like, you know, while you're like on the run, running this business?

Niehla O.: 00:29:47

I wish I had an answer for you. I try to take moments where I can. I try to run away and go to the Korean spa when I can.

And even when I'm there, I can't really rest cause I'm worried about the stuff that I could be doing.

Stephanie Graham: 00:29:59

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:29:59

But then by the time I get home, I'm so exhausted that I just want to get in bed. So It's a catch 22. I'm learning, though, how to, to make space and time for that so that I can make it a priority for myself.

Stephanie Graham: 00:30:10

Yeah, it's hard.

Niehla O.: 00:30:12

Very much so.

Stephanie Graham: 00:30:13

It's like you have to remember, like, sometimes I'll just be at home and I'll be on the computer and it's like, why don't you just put this down and actually go watch the movie from your couch and just chill? Like, you don't have to be multitasking. That's something I'm always trying to check myself about. Like, no need to multitask. Just stop working.

But sometimes. But working is fun. I enjoy it.

Niehla O.: 00:30:34

If you enjoy what you do, it's important. But we have to have balance because you don't want to start to resent the thing that you love so much because you've given so much yourself.

Stephanie Graham: 00:30:43

Yeah. Niehla, we have to take a quick break. Listener, thanks for being here. We'll be right back. Your news, Chicago. Your news and interest Chicago.

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in America's vinyl past circa: 1950

Niehla O.: 00:31:48

Pop, garage rock and tropical sounds with.

Stephanie Graham: 00:31:50

A few surprises here and there.

Niehla O.: 00:31:55

pm here at Lumpen Radio: 10505

Stephanie Graham: 00:32:11

Buddy gives artists and small manufacturers in Chicago a place to showcase and sell their goods and artworks. Buddy retails to a vast audience of Chicagoans and visitors at the Chicago Cultural Center. Buddy is a shop as local as it gets.

Buddy is part of the nonprofit Public Media Institute. Visit hi-buddy.org for more information. WLPNLP Chicago 105.5 FM Lumpin Radio welcome back everybody. Hey, maybe I need to say that again.

WLPNLP Chicago 105.5 FM Lumpin Radio welcome back everybody. I didn't have my mic on. Oh my gosh. Thank you for doing that again, Niehla.

Niehla O.: 00:32:59

My pleasure. Oh, my gosh.

Stephanie Graham: 00:33:00

We are in the studio with Naila Ali, and before we went to break, we were talking about finding better ways of a self care plan. You know, I was thinking, I was like, do I like that word, self care? Do you like that word?

Sometimes all these words, all the buzz around them, it's really just getting. I'm just really getting over it. Self care. Self care. What do you think?

Niehla O.: 00:33:25

I like the term self care because I think that as a business owner and also as a woman, we don't really do enough to take ourselves into consideration because it's always what we have to do for everybody else. And so when you are thinking about the fact that if I'm not good, nothing else is good, it really helps you to put that in perspective.

And so there has to be a balance of things that I'm putting out, but also things that are. I'm allowing to come in.

Stephanie Graham: 00:33:54

It's just. Yeah, I remember.

I remember one time I was at, like, some women's workshop and they were talking about self care, and I was like, yeah, you know, I keep my makeup and I keep my nails and ladies, like, that's not self care. And everybody was like, oh, no, they did fight.

Niehla O.: 00:34:12

Fight, fight, fight.

Stephanie Graham: 00:34:13

Exactly. And I'm like, oh, well, what is it?

Niehla O.: 00:34:16

And.

Stephanie Graham: 00:34:16

And then she was just staring at me.

Niehla O.: 00:34:19

Did she blink or was it a hard stare?

Stephanie Graham: 00:34:21

No, it was just a hard stare. I don't really know what their deal was. You know, I don't really. I was like, okay, I get it.

It's more about rest, but why not just tell me it's more about rest instead of staring at me?

Niehla O.: 00:34:34

See, this is why when I go into certain spaces, I'm very quiet and I observe.

Stephanie Graham: 00:34:40

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:34:40

Cause I'll fight. No, I'm just playing. I won't fight.

Stephanie Graham: 00:34:42

No, you won't. But that's what I thought, like, self care meant was just like maybe keeping yourself, caring for yourself. Well groomed, I guess.

Niehla O.: 00:34:48

Yeah. Well, I think that's a part of self care.

Stephanie Graham: 00:34:51

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:34:51

Because you have to. If you. If you feel like you look good, then you present yourself in a world. In the world based on how you feel. You. The world perceives you.

Stephanie Graham: 00:35:01

I really believe when you look good, you feel good.

Niehla O.: 00:35:03

Well, absolutely.

Stephanie Graham: 00:35:04

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:35:05

Yeah. Totesma. Goats.

Stephanie Graham: 00:35:07

Okay, do you want to tell that lady that she shouldn't have been staring at me?

Niehla O.: 00:35:10

Ma', am, don't you stare at my friend. Let me slap you around.

Stephanie Graham: 00:35:14

What was that about? Oh, my God.

Niehla O.: 00:35:16

Maybe she was Having a bad day, maybe.

Stephanie Graham: 00:35:18

So, you know, that's something that a lot of people do have bad days, and I do try to take that into account.

Niehla O.: 00:35:23

But that's why I feel like if you are a person who does not like people, then you should not work in an environment that is where it's necessary for you to be around people if you don't like them. If you did not like dogs, would you be a veterinarian? Absolutely not.

Stephanie Graham: 00:35:41

Yeah, for sure.

Niehla O.: 00:35:42

We got options. It may not be options you like, but you got them.

Stephanie Graham: 00:35:45

You've called yourself a daymaker.

Niehla O.: 00:35:47

I have.

Stephanie Graham: 00:35:48

Can you give us a guide on how to be a daymaker, including what a day maker is?

Niehla O.: 00:35:54

So it's so funny. Years ago, I was at a beauty conference because I used to work in that industry, and I went to go hear this guy talk.

He was a salon owner from another state, and I just felt his talk was so captivating. And he wrote a book on how to be a daymaker. And I love the term so much that I took it and I added it to my repertoire because it is imperative.

Like, you don't know what somebody else is going through when they encounter you.

Stephanie Graham: 00:36:22

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:36:23

And it is a beautiful thing to be able to take somebody who's having a day that's going in the wrong way, to be able to turn that around for them and bring joy and light and laughter into their day, to give them hope. Like, you don't know what somebody experienced before they got to you. You don't know what kind of phone call they had.

You don't know what kind of diagnosis they had. You don't know what kind of situation they had at work.

You don't know if they were fired from their job or if they just got divorced or if even if they're in a domestic violence situation or it's anything. You don't know what people are going through. We all have things that we go through.

And so it doesn't cost you anything to be kind, because you literally could be the difference between life or death for somebody. And so you have to choose your words carefully. It doesn't cost you anything to be nice, even if you're having a bad day.

When I'm having a bad day, it actually makes me feel really good to make somebody else's day. So it helps to turn my day around.

Stephanie Graham: 00:37:14

Yeah. So it sounds like the quick tip is, kindness costs nothing. Always be kind.

Niehla O.: 00:37:19

Well, thank you for making it more concise.

Stephanie Graham: 00:37:21

Yes. I love that tip. It's true.

I'm gonna try That I remember one time at a grocery store, there were customers going back and forth about it and going back and forth about what? I don't know what they were. They were just like, maybe somebody was taking too long because they wanted.

Like we're checking a price on something that said it was a certain price. It was another thing. And one of the customers in the line told the other customer, you know, it costs.

They said, you know, it costs nothing to be kind. That's true. And I said, okay. So sometimes that phrase really makes me chuckle. Yeah, but it's a real phrase.

Niehla O.: 00:37:59

Sometimes people are very nasty for no reason.

And I know you may, you may not be having the best day, then you should probably stay in the house, or you should probably, you should have stayed in the car. Maybe you should have done doordash, like, whatever.

If you can't find it in your heart to be decent for sure and civil, then don't be around people, don't be around dogs, don't be around ants.

Stephanie Graham: 00:38:18

Especially right now, because the world is crazy. Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:38:22

And one. And also you could be one snarky comment away from getting a beat down because you don't know what people are capable of doing. Yeah.

So you gotta be careful.

Stephanie Graham: 00:38:32

Gotta stay woke out here, honey.

Niehla O.: 00:38:34

Stay woke.

Stephanie Graham: 00:38:35

Yeah, for sure. You know, thinking back to your.

Going back to when you were in the beauty industry, do you see a connection between helping people feel beautiful on the outside and now nourishing them from the inside?

Niehla O.: 00:38:48

Absolutely. I think that those two things, like, really affect how you move in the world.

If you're not feeling good in your body, then I think you present yourself a certain way in the world. And just like, if you don't feel like you look up to par, you're going to present yourself not in the best way in the world.

So I think that anything that is involved with you and your person really affects how you move. And so if you like, I ate a good breakfast, I ate a healthy breakfast.

I think there's a certain level of confidence that you have when you go into the world, oh, I had a green juice today. I feel really good.

Like my gut feels good, or I drank some kombucha, or, you know, I decided to not have meat for a week, or, you know, how do I feel on my body? You know, and then also having that level of pride in yourself, like, oh, I did that.

Stephanie Graham: 00:39:43

You know, I certainly do feel cultured when I have a green juice.

Niehla O.: 00:39:47

How about that? Do you have it in a martini glass or like a wine glass?

Stephanie Graham: 00:39:51

No, But I'm going to start. But I will have my green juice in hand while bringing my hummus to the open art critique.

Niehla O.: 00:39:57

How about that?

Stephanie Graham: 00:39:58

Okay, what do you think? I know you're pescatarian now, but if folks are like plant.

If folks are interested in plant based eating, we know we have to eat more than just hummus, but it can be so intimidating. What do you think?

Like, if you don't like vegetables or, you know, or if it, it seems like it's so much cooking, but maybe you're like a busy working person. It just feels like plant based eating can be intimidating. This is a question somebody asked me to ask you.

Niehla O.: 00:40:27

Well, people are not going around here eating slabs of raw meat. You gotta cook the meat, you gotta cook the chicken, you gotta cook the pork chops, you gotta cook the fish. You have to, you have to season.

Stephanie Graham: 00:40:37

But everybody eats like it's different to be plant based. I see that.

Niehla O.: 00:40:41

I think that it takes just as much effort to do.

Before you, before people knew how to fry chicken from their grandma or whoever, you had to learn that before you, you know, this dish that you specialized in, you have to learn how to make it. It's the same principle. And sometimes it takes not even as much time to make veggies.

And like, just because you are plant forward in your lifestyle doesn't mean that you've cut out all meat. Like, you can have Meatless Mondays. You know, you can lessen your meat consumption. You know, you can lessen your dairy consumption.

It's, it's not an all or nothing thing. And I think that so many people have this mindset like, oh, they're better than if they're vegan or they're better than. It's not about that.

It's about finding what works best for you and your body and also making better choices. And there are a lot of people who are unhealthy vegans.

Stephanie Graham: 00:41:31

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:41:32

If French fries are your primary source of food in your diet or chips, that's not very healthy, you know, and so having a balanced meal, I mean, I'll be honest with you, there are some days where I'm so exhausted, I literally will pop popcorn and have that for dinner. And that's not the healthiest option, you know, but it's filling and it doesn't make me feel bloated. And I really love popcorn.

But I gotta, you know, after. We have to have balance with those things. And so you just gotta, you gotta figure out, what do you like, what flavor profiles do you enjoy?

Buy those seasonings and make your food and stop making everything a big deal. It's just not a big deal.

Stephanie Graham: 00:42:14

east coast, West Coast. It's: 2025

Niehla O.: 00:42:23

All. Listen, I was watching an episode of. I don't know if I could say this show, but I was watching an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians.

Cause it's one of my guilty pleasures. I like them. People don't. So what? I don't care.

And, you know, they were having a party and this was like maybe three or four seasons ago, and they had chicken wings. And Kim was like, oh, I guess I won't be vegan today. And she picked up her fried chicken wing and she ate it.

Because you don't have to label yourself anything.

Stephanie Graham: 00:42:49

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:42:50

You can eat whatever you want to eat. Just make better choices for your life. And it doesn't. You don't have to be an all or nothing kind of person. Just everybody calm down.

Stephanie Graham: 00:42:56

Yeah. With homegirls hummus. What? Like, what do you want to see homegrown hummus grow to maybe in the next year?

Niehla O.: 00:43:08

I would like to be a food service product at restaurants.

Stephanie Graham: 00:43:14

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:43:15

I would like to be a food service product in grocery stores where people can get it in their delis. You know, buy the pound or quarter pound or half pound or whatever the case may be.

I would like to see us used or, you know, used in different ways by different influencers. Just showing the fun ways that people can utilize our product.

I give people a lot of tips about utilizing our product, but I would love to see how other people utilize the product in non traditional ways.

Stephanie Graham: 00:43:41

Influencer marketing is definitely interesting.

Niehla O.: 00:43:43

It is interesting. You just have to partner with the right people.

Stephanie Graham: 00:43:46

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:43:47

Who are going to do it justice.

Stephanie Graham: 00:43:48

I've even thought about that for some of my own projects. Like, should I get an influencer to talk about this? Maybe I should. I think it's cool. But I know that word. Like, people always like, oh, my God.

Influencer. Influencer. But I'm like, hey, man, this person is gonna talk about your product. They're gonna do a good job. People listen to them.

Like, it sounds like a win win to me sometimes.

Niehla O.: 00:44:06

I mean, I've seen a couple of situations where people who are considering themselves influencers have gone awry, and they definitely can destroy a business.

Stephanie Graham: 00:44:15

Oh, my gosh. I haven't seen that. Yikes.

Niehla O.: 00:44:17

Yeah. I mean, it happens.

Fortunately, I Have had some really great experiences with different people who are considered influencers, who have really taken the opportunity to really, like, show love to homegirls hummus. And I'm very grateful for that. I do put a lot of heart into the product. People say, oh, my God, why does your hummus taste so good?

It really is the love. It really is a love.

Like, you know, this business grew out of me going through a very terrible time and going through grief, and I've heard the term before, that grief is love that has nowhere to go. And so forth me to take on this business venture full time.

It literally was pouring all the love from the loss of my parents, the love that I had for my family members, and pouring it into my product because it was somewhere to direct my attention. And so it really is a product that contains love. And that's why the product is a tasty product.

Stephanie Graham: 00:45:07

Yum. You are really fun on social media. Thinking of influencers. Like, how much time do you put into planning, if any social content at all?

Niehla O.: 00:45:18

None. I'm a cancer. I just am. Spurred a moment. Here we go. I'm going live.

Stephanie Graham: 00:45:23

Oh, wow.

Niehla O.: 00:45:23

It's what I do. You won't see a lot of, like, curated reels and things like that. For me, a lot of times I don't feel like I have the time for that.

So I'll just go in there and start talking. I mean, I like to talk. As you can see, I'm a conversationalist.

I talk about everything and nothing and, you know, talk about life stuff, talk about everything. And so I'll hop on a live. People will jump on, like, girl, what you talking about today? And we'll just be on there talking and it'll be a good time.

Stephanie Graham: 00:45:47

I love that. I'm always trying to figure out a good social media plan, but maybe I'm overthinking it.

Niehla O.: 00:45:52

I think that you just have to be present. Show up.

Stephanie Graham: 00:45:54

Yeah.

Niehla O.: 00:45:55

It's not about like, oh, my God, what am I gonna say today? Like, yeah, you should have some things that are planned, but at the end of the day, just show up.

And I haven't been on for a while and so I need to get back on there. I did do a little, you know, filming a little story from here today. Cause I really like this vibe in here. It's very moody and sexy.

Stephanie Graham: 00:46:13

Oh, yeah, I love that. That's how we like to roll, you know?

Niehla O.: 00:46:15

Yeah.

Stephanie Graham: 00:46:15

When you look good, you feel good.

Niehla O.: 00:46:17

Yeah. Okay.

Stephanie Graham: 00:46:19

Oh, my gosh. You've. What role has Faith played in your journey I feel like you've mentioned faith a little bit here.

Niehla O.: 00:46:28

It's a huge role. Faith is everything. Like, you know, God had a plan for me when I moved back to Chicago from Los Angeles to help to care for my mother.

I didn't know that she would be gone in three months. And so now I'm back in Chicago and I'm like, God, I moved back. I loved la. I moved back, you know, to help to care for my mother. And now she's gone.

What am I gonna do? And I felt like he was like, watch this. You know, you have to know that there's. God always has a plan for your life.

And so when you're obedient and when you are quiet and still enough to listen, he will show you. But also, you gotta move.

He can plant a seed, but it's up to you to make a move and water the seed and cultivate it and grow the thing that he's giving you. And so faith has played a huge role in my life.

Like, who would have ever thought that this would be my business full time and that it will be doing pretty well? I'm very grateful and I'm very humbled. And God has been so good to me.

Stephanie Graham: 00:47:26

What a dream. What a dream.

Niehla O.: 00:47:30

Okay, what is.

Stephanie Graham: 00:47:32

What is your. When you're making your hummus, what's your, like, go to kitchen playlist?

Niehla O.: 00:47:39

Oh, it just depends. Like, sometimes I like, like, 90s R&B. Sometimes I'm listening to a praise and worship playlist.

Sometimes I am listening to, like, sometimes I listen to polka. Like, it just depends. Like, in some of my markets, I'll have my speaker on.

And sometimes, like, on a Sunday morning, at some of my Sunday markets, if it's raining, I have, like, a rainy Sunday morning playlist that I'll find on my, you know, my music provider or whatever the case may be. But I like all kinds of music. I like moods. I like for people to be like, oh, hey, you know, And I like singing along. And people usually enjoy that.

It makes that you approachable because they look at you like you're having a good time. And they want to have a good time, too.

Stephanie Graham: 00:48:26

Yeah. Do you ever do a two step to the polka music?

Niehla O.: 00:48:28

I have not yet done the polka two step.

Stephanie Graham: 00:48:31

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:48:31

But I will thank you for the reminder.

Stephanie Graham: 00:48:33

You're welcome. You know, when we leave here, I'm gonna visit a friend who unfortunately has heartbreak, you know.

Niehla O.: 00:48:40

Mmm.

Stephanie Graham: 00:48:40

I'm sorry. And. Yeah. And I just wonder, like, which one of your hummus flavors would be the best? Which Is the best. Blissful. Blissful is the best hummus flavor.

Niehla O.: 00:48:50

For heartbreak.

Stephanie Graham: 00:48:51

For heartbreak.

Niehla O.: 00:48:52

It's beautiful. It's a vibrant pink color. It's gonna give her joy. It's a little sweet and a little savory, and it's really rich.

Like, the color of it, honestly, just makes you happy just looking at it. So I'm gonna send you with some hummus for your homegirl.

Stephanie Graham: 00:49:06

And if there were people arguing in the checkout line, what kind of hummus flavor would you give for them? Would you say, hey, hey, guys, stop arguing. Have some of this hummus Chicago style.

Niehla O.: 00:49:18

Number one, hands down.

Stephanie Graham: 00:49:19

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:49:20

Yeah, yeah. It's our. You know, it's our roasted garlic hummus with Miles Jardinera. It is a Chicago staple, but people from everywhere love this hummus.

It's our number one seller.

Stephanie Graham: 00:49:29

And so pull the mic closer to you.

Niehla O.: 00:49:31

It's my number one seller, and I think that people would really, really enjoy it, so I think it would stop any argument.

Stephanie Graham: 00:49:38

Okay, that's good. So it sounds like we should keep some of the pita chips on our pocket, too, so that we could share this with the folks.

Niehla O.: 00:49:46

I mean, if you want to keep pita chips in your pocket, but they're probably gonna crack and break, but I don't know. Tell me how you really feel.

Stephanie Graham: 00:49:55

What is, like, okay, you want to be in the food? I was trying to think of, like, what's, like, a dream that you have that you haven't said out loud yet towards homegirls hummus.

Niehla O.: 00:50:05

There's so many amazing dreams that I have for my brand, but I am looking forward today when I get a call from, like, GMA and, like, I'm talking to, like, Robin Roberts, and I'm talking to, like, Michael Strahan and, you know, everybody else, like, George, you know. Yeah. And what's the lady's name with the blonde hair? I can't even think of her name. But, yeah, I just. I want. I want everybody.

Like, you know what I would love to do?

Stephanie Graham: 00:50:35

What?

Niehla O.: 00:50:37

I would love to go on with Megan from Megan with Love, Okay. Because I love her show. She is getting ready. She's the new Martha Stewart. Okay. The voice, the. She can cook. Oh, yeah. The crafts, like, all the things.

She is, like, taking the. She's taking the baton.

But I would love to go on her show and cook with her and show her how to make hummus and, like, make hummus with, like, amazing toppings and all those things. I would love to do that with her. She is. She really seems like a Girl's girl. I love watching her move.

I love her creativity, and I would love to go on her show and make hummus with her.

Stephanie Graham: 00:51:13

What a dream that would be.

Niehla O.: 00:51:14

It would be a dream just Cause, like, yeah.

Stephanie Graham: 00:51:17

Yeah, why not? I could see it.

Niehla O.: 00:51:18

Me, too.

Stephanie Graham: 00:51:19

What is your favorite snack besides hummus and popcorn? Can you put the popcorn in hummus?

Niehla O.: 00:51:27

No.

Stephanie Graham: 00:51:28

Okay. I don't know. Yeah, that doesn't seem like that'd be good, but some people are like, a little quick dip.

Niehla O.: 00:51:35

I like a frozen treatment. Yeah.

So whether that is a popsicle, whether that is a freeze pop, whether that is some kind of ice cream or frozen yogurt or whatever situation I like or some kind of parfait situation, but I love a frozen treat. Even in the winter. In the dead of winter. Negative 20. Inside on my couch, the fake fireplace, going, watching a good movie and eating some frozen.

Delicious treatment.

Stephanie Graham: 00:52:03

I love ice cream and milkshakes and popsicles, too. Yeah. So much.

Where I was just even thinking last night, I was like, I should probably keep it in the house more because sometimes it's, like, it's too late to just, like, go out. Milkshakes are way too expensive when, like, I can just simply make one at home.

Niehla O.: 00:52:21

You can.

Stephanie Graham: 00:52:21

And they, like, come so big. Like, I'm like, oh, no, I just want, like, a little one. Exactly.

Niehla O.: 00:52:25

Exactly. Exactamondo.

Stephanie Graham: 00:52:27

Yeah. What a dream. Lipstick or hummus? If you had to pick one. What your. What are you picking?

Niehla O.: 00:52:33

Mmm. Why would those be the two options?

Stephanie Graham: 00:52:37

Because one of my sources said that's the option.

Niehla O.: 00:52:40

Okay, well, there's gonna be hummus all day long.

Stephanie Graham: 00:52:42

Okay. Ooh. But if you could make. Would you make, like, a lipstick line out of hummus?

Niehla O.: 00:52:49

Why would I do that?

Stephanie Graham: 00:52:50

I mean, maybe, like, out of your hummus flavors, the names.

Niehla O.: 00:52:53

I would not.

Stephanie Graham: 00:52:54

Because it's not right. You can't wear.

Niehla O.: 00:52:56

I just. No, it's not that it's not right. I just don't know why those two things would need to happen.

Just like I was watching an episode of Project Runway some years ago, and they had to make uniforms, but they had to use vegetables. And I was like, in what world is this necessary? I just don't like unnecessary stress for no reason, so. Absolutely not. There's no need to do that.

Stephanie Graham: 00:53:18

What about a hummus car mix?

Niehla O.: 00:53:21

No. No, Max. Yes. No. Absolutely not.

Stephanie Graham: 00:53:26

Oh, my gosh. Speaking of Project Runway, what are you watching lately on tv? Do you have any good shows?

Niehla O.: 00:53:30

Oh, my goodness, let me tell you. I started watching All's Fair, and I love It. I know some people have had some mixed reviews on it.

One of my favorite podcasters does not like it, but she doesn't like Kim Kardashian. It's whatever.

Stephanie Graham: 00:53:41

Oh, yeah, that's what I was thinking. That's the show you were talking about.

Niehla O.: 00:53:44

It is really, really good to me. I really enjoy, enjoyed those three episodes, and I can't wait for the next episode to drop.

Stephanie Graham: 00:53:49

Oh, okay. So it started with the three episodes. Okay. Yeah. It looks really pretty.

Niehla O.: 00:53:54

It's aesthetically pleasing. And if you know anything about Ryan Murphy, he gonna give you the looks. Yeah. He's gonna bring back old school actresses. He loves older women.

He, like, this is. It's such a good show. I really am enjoying it.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:08

That's good, because I know Ryan was, like, into the other, like, true crime stories, and I'm not into those. So.

Niehla O.: 00:54:13

Ryan also the creator of Glee. I. And Glee was like my. One of my favorite shows for a very long time.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:20

Yeah. I never watched Glee. Oh, isn't that something?

Niehla O.: 00:54:24

No judgment.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:26

Thank you.

Niehla O.: 00:54:26

Judgment.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:27

Why would you judge me?

Niehla O.: 00:54:28

I would.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:29

Would you judge everybody that hasn't watched Glee?

Niehla O.: 00:54:31

I would judge people who try to make lipstick out of hummus.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:33

Nene Leakes was on Glee.

Niehla O.: 00:54:35

I remember.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:36

I love Nene.

Niehla O.: 00:54:37

She was one of the coaches competing against Sue Silvestri. Yeah, honey, I know.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:41

I love that.

Niehla O.: 00:54:42

Yeah.

Stephanie Graham: 00:54:43

You will also like, within Homegirls Hummus, you'll cater and do all things like that, right?

Niehla O.: 00:54:49

I have done and I will do. I'm looking to do some holiday parties for different businesses. I want to do some Grayson tables with starring our hummus.

So that's something that I have kind of been doing for the past couple years, and I really enjoy it and I want to do more of those things, especially, like, with the holidays coming up. I'm really looking to do more of that. So. Hey, guys, if you're interested, hit me up.

Stephanie Graham: 00:55:13

What do you think is, like, the most wildest thing you can make with hummus that folks might not think to make with hummus?

Niehla O.: 00:55:20

You can make hummus like a pasta sauce. Oh, like, instead of using a marinara, you can use hummus. I've done it. I love it. I use it as a pizza sauce.

Stephanie Graham: 00:55:28

Oh, really?

Niehla O.: 00:55:29

Yeah. I use it as a salad dressing. I don't know.

Stephanie Graham: 00:55:33

You know what? I'm sure the listener's like, yes, Stephanie.

Niehla O.: 00:55:36

I knew all this, but some people did not. Don't let the people fool you.

Stephanie Graham: 00:55:39

I was going to say, I never know this because my introduction again to hummus is Bringing it to the open critique. Every time I go, there's like six different versions of hummus store bought, but they all are also sort of the same.

Niehla O.: 00:55:53

Yeah, they all have tahini in them. I would like to mention that homegirls hummus is tahini free.

Stephanie Graham: 00:55:57

What's tahini?

Niehla O.: 00:55:58

So no sesame in the product.

Stephanie Graham: 00:55:59

Oh, sesame.

Niehla O.: 00:56:00

And sesame is one of the big nine allergens. So a lot of people have sesame intolerance. And you know, it's really great that people have the option of not having sesame in their hummus.

Stephanie Graham: 00:56:10

What are the other eight allergens? Do you know? You said sesame is an allergen.

Niehla O.: 00:56:14

So we're gonna talk about sesame.

Stephanie Graham: 00:56:15

Uh huh.

Niehla O.: 00:56:16

Cause that's what I do now.

Stephanie Graham: 00:56:17

Oh, okay. I was like, ooh, I never thought about like, I don't entertain that much. Maybe if I entertained more I would know this kind of stuff.

Niehla O.: 00:56:25

Well, you're a very entertaining, so I feel like you should entertain more.

Stephanie Graham: 00:56:28

Thanks. Yeah, I do wanna like have dinner parties more.

I had this thought of like, it's not like a new thought, but just bringing like different strangers of my world together for a meal, which I thought could be fun. It could be like you, my aunt Susie.

Niehla O.: 00:56:44

Hey, Susie.

Stephanie Graham: 00:56:45

You know, maybe somebody I met at the, at the grocery store.

Niehla O.: 00:56:48

That Piggly Wiggly.

Stephanie Graham: 00:56:49

Yeah, at the Piggly Wiggly. The customer that was arguing, you know, like just these different worlds together to break bread with one another. That's what I was thinking.

But I don't know. Entertaining just seems like it takes so much time and planning.

Niehla O.: 00:57:04

I love entertaining and I wanna start having some homegirls hummus game nights. Oh. So that's something I wanna do through the fall. I've been wanting to do it for a while, but just haven't found the time or opportunity.

But that's something I'm definitely gonna do. At least two for this winter season.

Stephanie Graham: 00:57:18

Do you have a favorite game?

Niehla O.: 00:57:19

Like I just ordered this game that I've been wanting to play for a while from one of my favorite YouTube personalities. And so I'm looking forward to getting the game and playing it with people I know and cutting up and having a good time.

Stephanie Graham: 00:57:32

Okay. Do you like Jenga?

Niehla O.: 00:57:34

I like, I like it. I've played it a couple times. Like it's cool. Yeah.

Stephanie Graham: 00:57:38

Yeah. That's one of my favorites. Yes, I really love it. My friend has a big Jenga. Like the blocks are very, very big. And that's a lot of fun.

Niehla O.: 00:57:47

The last time I played it, I played the huge Jenga. I was on Vacation with my sister and my brother in law. It was a good time.

Stephanie Graham: 00:57:52

Did you win?

Niehla O.: 00:57:54

I feel like I did.

Stephanie Graham: 00:57:56

Nice. Congratulations.

Niehla O.: 00:57:57

I mean, I didn't get a trophy or anything, but you know what?

Stephanie Graham: 00:58:00

Oh my gosh. So usually in the farmer's markets you are like, where are you at usually? Where can we find you? Or is there like a farmer?

Is farmer's market season even right now or is it over?

Niehla O.: 00:58:13

Farmers market season has ended for the spring. Summer.

Stephanie Graham: 00:58:17

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:58:17

Fall, early fall. And then it's.

We have two indoor markets that we're gonna be doing in the winter and we have a friendsgiving luxury farmers market that we're doing towards the end of this month.

Stephanie Graham: 00:58:29

Oh, what's a luxury farmer's market?

Niehla O.: 00:58:31

It's just a higher end farmer's market. They're very selective. It's indoor, it's at a really pretty location. They do the things.

Stephanie Graham: 00:58:36

Okay. Yeah. I was going to ask if farmers markets are ever indoors.

Niehla O.: 00:58:40

They do have some indoor farmers markets and like, especially like it's newer in Chicago for a lot of different areas to start having indoor farmers markets for the winter because people want the things.

Stephanie Graham: 00:58:51

Yeah. And people still want to like come out and support their favorite vendors. And if they just go away for the winter, that's not cool.

Niehla O.: 00:58:58

Not cool at all.

Stephanie Graham: 00:58:59

I love that. So if we wanted to find out like where your farmer's markets are, where do we find that?

Niehla O.: 00:59:05

ial media. You can meet me at: 2020

Stephanie Graham: 00:59:10

Okay.

Niehla O.: 00:59:11

On the Instagram, I usually post the markets that are going to be happening and then you can see where I'm going to be.

Stephanie Graham: 00:59:18

Yeah. Anything else you want to mention that we might have that we might not have spoke about? Before we come to the top of.

Niehla O.: 00:59:24

The hour, I just want to say I really appreciate being here today. I really.

For those of you who are, you know, having concerns with your health or really considering to change your lifestyle or to be more plant forward, I'm not telling you to be vegan or totally plant based, but you could be more plant forward, meaning you can heighten the amount of vegetables and plants that you're eating in your diet. Like, don't overthink it. It's super simple. Just make some quick changes and keep it moving. It's all good. I love it.

Stephanie Graham: 00:59:54

I really love the overthinking thing is such a good reminder. I am the queen of overthinking.

Niehla O.: 01:00:01

I think that we have to consider some of the choices that we make in life. Some of the bad choices, we don't overthink any of those things. We just do it like a fool, you know? Like a fool.

So I think that take that same throwing caution to the wind when you're deciding to do things to enhance your life. Cause it's really not that deep.

Stephanie Graham: 01:00:18

Yeah. Before you go dark, think about eating an apple. How about that?

Niehla O.: 01:00:22

How about that? Slather some peanut butter on there.

Stephanie Graham: 01:00:25

Yeah. Because that gives you your protein. Is that right?

Niehla O.: 01:00:28

It does add some protein, but it also makes it more fun. It's almost like kind of having like a taffy apple.

Stephanie Graham: 01:00:33

Oh, I don't think so.

Niehla O.: 01:00:34

It is.

Stephanie Graham: 01:00:34

A peanut butter is definitely different from caramel. Have you ever had a peanut butter taffy apple?

Niehla O.: 01:00:40

Well, first of all, the taffy apples that I eat, uh huh. They have caramel and they have peanuts on them.

Stephanie Graham: 01:00:46

Oh, that's true.

Niehla O.: 01:00:47

Hello.

Stephanie Graham: 01:00:48

I'm a peanut free girly.

Niehla O.: 01:00:51

Oh, sorry, babe.

Stephanie Graham: 01:00:51

Yeah, me too. Listen, listener, thank you so much for being here on Nosy F Live. Niehla, thank you so much for being here.

Niehla O.: 01:00:59

Thanks for having me, doll.

Stephanie Graham: 01:01:00

Yes. What a dream. Well, it's three o' clock and thank you for your time, Chicago. Have a wonderful day. Do you want to say bye, Niehla?

Niehla O.: 01:01:09

Bye, Niehla.

Stephanie Graham: 01:01:11

This has been another episode of Nosy af. I'm your host, Stephanie Graham. What did you think about today's conversation? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Head over to the Nosy AF website for all the show notes related to this episode. You can also find me on Instagram at Stephanie Graham, what would you know?

Or online@missgram.com where you can sign up for my newsletter where I share exclusive updates about my studio practice as well as this podcast. Until next time, y' all stay curious and take care. Bye.